Arcade & Classic Games · 51

Bonus fruit, ships, bells and other strange objects became score bait because a rare target gives players a reason to break their safe routine. The category's past supplies the companion fact: Dragon's Lair used LaserDisc animation in 1983, trading free movement for spectacular cartoon visuals far beyond what ordinary arcade hardware could draw in real time. The safest pattern works perfectly until the game becomes fast enough to expose that it was never safe.